Projects blog

PROTOTYPUM is a Czech design and innovation studio focused on industrial design, prototyping and engineering founded in 2015 in Prague.

Trezor is a hardware wallet for cryptocurrencies (so-called cold storage) but it can be also used for secondary authentification to your email or as a password manager.

PROTOTYPUM team worked on the project from the first sketch and continued through CAD modeling, prototyping by 3D printing, prototyping in silicone and finally, preparations for the final serial production. During the first stage of prototyping, a lot of 3D printed prototypes from the Fillamentum's Flexfill 92A has been printed (over a hundred pieces). This flexible material helped them to test the features on the design before prototyping it from silicone. Fillamentums's Flexfill 92A material actually helped them to develop the product much faster and also cheaper.

Did you know that Arte Creator is not one designer but a fantastic duo: Barbara & Goncalo? Now you do, and let’s talk to them about their latest design - Voodoo Bree!

Followers on our social networks may already know you for your epic designs of Bree and Summer - the skater girl. Now you’ve prepared something brand new, inspired by our Voodoo. The idea came when you guys posted some photos of the original Bree printed with voodoo filament by some makers. You guys called her Voodoo Bree at the time. We loved the name and answered back playing with the idea that even better was to make a version of her matching the name. Something like Tia Dalma from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. That idea never got out of our minds, so of course, we had to make her!

We think she looks fantastic in every colour, but sure, the prints from Tore Langelandsvik and Tom Jackson were fabulous! Where can we find the stl?Indeed they were amazing prints that add value to the model! The STL can be found at MyMiniFactory LINK.

We were writing with you during the designing process and found it interesting to talk about it. How many iterations did you print until you got to the final shape?Our previous models: Summer and Bree gave us a lot of experience through several experiences and iterations. They paid off with smoother production flow with this new character. As then, we’d already known what works and what doesn't. The printing went well at the first try: with her cap, head, body, featuring many details and she’s support-free. Only the base (or stand) was more labour-intensive the leaves where something new to us. As for the 3D model, there where a few iterations like the angle of the head, the hair, different cloth details, the base size and the amount of branches and leaves in it.

Which head angle didn't work out? As a designer, how do you see the need to change design because of printing?Some angles don't work out because they can actually change the personality or intention of the character; a head bending over the doll would look intimidating if not awkward. If she were tilted to the right, it would break the flow and the body line. So we opted for this angle as it’s more like a “haaaw, you are a cute doll!! The things I'm going to do to you!!”Her pose, similar to the original Bree, is intended to help achieve our model without supports, as the printer will always go at a printable angle. It starts going from the base to the hips, where the hands and arms are in an angle that the machine can handle without overhangs, and from there to the neck. The head was made separately as there was no way to make it without support, and it is cut flatten same as the cap so they can be printed flat on the printer bed.

There were some issues with the leaves stand… The problem with the leaves where the thickness and level of detail. When printing, you would have a lot of small “islands”, this makes the nozzle move like crazy from one point to another leading to some failed prints. That’s the reason why we have to test before releasing the models to the community. This can be tweaked and solved with better cooling and multiple-layered profile printing, but not everyone has, can or want that, and we don't want to impose it. So we tried to simplify the leaves’ shape, merge them a bit to make them easier to print. Overhangs and printing angles are other things that designers must take into account if they want the model to be as easy to print as possible. These are the models made by makers for makers. We first make sure the model is easy for us to print. If it works for us, it will work for everyone else if we don't push for the printers. If it fails, it will also for other people, and that's not an option, so we’re back at the drawing board!

Zbrush for modeling, our PLA for printing. Btw. what printer do you use?Indeed, those are our tools! We use mainly our Creality CR10S, but we also have a Creality Ender 3, a Peopoly Moai, and recently acquired the Anycubic Photon.

Why did you choose our materials to work with?We have tried other materials before but a friend advised us to try your brand, and so we did, and we love printing with them since then. They work well in our printers, and the results speak for themselves as everyone can see from the photos we have published.

He is from Hungary and we met on Twitter while he was using our materials for really nice and clean printing. “I am already helping Fernando with his top secret project, beta testing at 40% size”. We knew we are on the same page to make some good collaboration!

*Fernando Jerez is our long-time friend, he’s talented designer who started the wavey madness with his generative design.

Hello Grafit,When I was asking you about some ideas for a new bigger project, you wanted to print exactly this amazing design by Juri Pranjic. How did you find the model?I have seen this earlier on Twitter when Juri designed it and started printing his own. I became a follower of @3dworkbench instantly.

Two materials in seven different colours, tell us more about the printing process ... Which printer you used, how long did it take to print? Did you use any tricks or special set up for printing?Well, the CPE Red Hood filament was a completely new material for me. And because it needed high temperature, I used my Prusa i3 MK3 for that job. No failures there. It came out nicely in the first round. On the pictures you can see, it is the tomato slice.Since I scaled up this awesome model to 140% I had to use some tricks. For example, on the original model, every part of the burger is solid. However in a perfect world, you will never see the inside of the tomato slice, and the meat etc. so I decided to cut out most parts. The tomato slice is a ring eventually. I will post some making-of photos on my twitter later.Ender 3 printed the burger buns (Light Ivory PLA), and the limbs (Vertigo Grey PLA). Everything else was printed on the Prusa i3 MK3.Fries & Cheese (Melon Yellow PLA), Lettuce (Grass Green PLA), Meat (Purple Red PLA), Shields (Traffic White PLA)

Did you have any issues with stringing on CPE? Because when it’s moist, it can be hairy printing.Moisture did not get any chance since that was a perfectly packaged brand new spool; and after printing, I put it right back to the reusable ziplock bag. :)

It’s not an easy design but definitely worth it. What did you need for assembling it?For the burger, I have used hot glue gun. And I designed and printed a custom fitting ring for some of the parts. The legs and arms are just slide in. For the thrusters, I used a small strip of kapton tape to make some friction so they would not fall out.

With upscaling to this giant size there can be an issue with stability which isn’t there in the original size. We almost didn’t manage to make it stand. Do you think it’s something what can decrease the head part weight to reduce the pressure on the legs? Of course he is super-awesome while sitting too, but.. : )Yeah, the upscaling generated some issues with the tolerances. His joints became a lil’ loose. I think the main issue are the knees. I would glue them to a fix position, or drill and use a screw and a nut through the knee joint. I was able to get him standing with fries box on his back. :) I have a proof.

What are your feelings from Fillamentum materials?I really love just everything about Fillamentum. The box, reusable ziplock packaging for moisture defense, beautiful glass clear spool, and of course, filament itself. It comes in beautiful vivid colours and quality material. I’ve never had any problems related to the material. Oh, and the surprise stickers! :)Thank you 💛

The world is divided into two parts…. Ketchup or mayo to your french fries?: )Lol! Ketchup.

Any ambitions for next projects?I really like multipart models where you can combine a lot of filaments together.That is where nice colours and glittery materials can show their beauty and form awesome combinations together. So definitely I would print something big, multipart thing with perfect material combinations.I recently started to paint some models but then you can just use any filament. :)